Shadows aren't the only dark things
by funkyorange
Summary: It's Shadow's fourth year, and things are changing. With a Ministry spy in Hogwarts, and a surprising result of a potions accident, she's having the busiest year yet! Rated for language and snogging.
1. In Which Shadow cleans up Order HQ

_**Again, my copy of the Order of the Phoenix has been...ahem, borrowed...by someone, so sorry if some details are incorrect, as I can't find them on the internet. If I get some wrong, review and tell me, but I do know some things about the book from memory, and this is an AU. **_

**Shadow Evans looked around her at the mess that was number twelve, Grimmould Place. Glaring at her foe of the moment, a drop of an unknown potion, she attacked it with a scrubbing brush, black hair falling into her face. "Shadow!" Called Lily, Shadow's mother, and Shadow heard the soft footsteps walking up the stairs and towards her. "It's dinnertime," she said softly.**

"**Yes, mum," said Shadow. Getting up, she groaned as her legs protested from sitting in the same position for hours on end. Shadow was in Grimmould Place: Her father's best friend's house that had not been occupied in years, and now that Voldemort was apparently back, the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. Neville Longbottom would be joining them when his grandmother finally agreed. The head of the School, Minerva McGonagall, lead the group along with Alastor Moody, a paranoid ex-Arour. The Weasley family would be coming tomorrow. Meanwhile, it was simply Shadow, her mother, her father Remus, and the owner of the house, Sirius Black, living there. The four were cleaning up the house slowly: when they'd come just after school, the whole place had been a mess.**

_**Flashback**_

_**When Shadow got home, she was ordered to pack up everything that she hadn't for school. Cassie, her cat, and Athena, her owl, along with her things, were taken to London. When she had memorised the words, 'The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is in number twelve, Grimmould place.' When they opened the door, a huge amount of dust and grime fell into the already coated hallway. "We're going to have to clean up," Lily said. Sirius, Shadow and Remus nodded.**_

_**End Flashback**_

**So here she was, sitting eating a huge stack of toast, because the toaster was the only thing that was working in the house that was to do with cooking, and pondering why on Earth was she not allowed to send letters to Draco, Hermione, Ginny, Colin or Penelope. It wasn't like she'd be sending them little leaflets saying **_**I'M AT GRIMMOULD PLACE, NUMBER TWELVE**_**! She prodded her toast moodily. **

**The next day, Ginny and her family arrived at Grimmould Place, along with Hermione. The very first question Shadow asked was, "Have you heard from Draco?" **

**Ginny and Hermione glared at her icily. "He said you were ignoring him," Ginny replied. "All his letters came back unopened."  
"Alastor Moody made me stop writing to him," Shadow sighed. "And when I didn't, he put up mail wards."**

"**Oh," Ginny said. "He said he thought it might be something like that, but we wanted to be sure."**

**Hermione and Ginny immediately began helping Shadow clear up the house, as it was a huge job. Ron Weasley was slacking off most of the time, but Fred and George were helping out also. Soon, Luna came to join them, along with Penelope, who had joined the Order, and they were all cleaning and chatting like old times.**

**Shadow had made a new friend at Order HQ, though. Her name was **_**don't-call-me-Nymphadora **_**Tonks. The most amusing thing to Shadow was that Tonks had a huge crush on her father. Remus was single, and definitely interested, but he said that a) she was too young and b) he was too dangerous for poor Tonks. Shadow had tried, many times, to explain Tonks didn't care, but Remus wouldn't listen. While Tonks and Shadow were getting along, Shadow and Ron Weasley were getting along even worse.**

**The first day, Weasley had been throwing stones at her owl Athena. She'd retaliated by putting spiders in his bed. The second day, he'd thrown Athena out of the window, so she'd turned him pink, even though Athena was an owl. Apparently, Weasley was stupid. **

**When the kids, and a few Order members, left to go to Diagon Alley, Shadow hurried to find Draco. **

"**Draco!" She called, and led him behind Flourish and Blotts. After a hearty snogging session, they came back out and headed into the shop. They looked over their lists: the defence books were almost the same, and they wondered exactly why Sirius was giving them those books. As one, they walked over to him.**

"**I quit," he whispered. "So I could do more for the Order. I heard some Ministry hag, Delores Umbridge, has been sent there by the ministry." Nodding, they walked to the front of the shop and paid for their books: most were simply the same as last year's but a level higher, but the DADA books were **_**Ministry-Approved Standard Spells**_**, Shadow's was Level Four, Draco's Level Five. **

**Shadow had heard of Umbridge. She had, when Shadow's ministry trouble of a couple of years ago was over, made a werewolf restriction: **_**Werewolves are no longer allowed to reproduce.**_** It was completely unfair, and Shadow knew that soon, she'd make a law that said that the children of werewolves would be killed, along with the mother and father. "Honestly, what was the Headmistress **_**thinking**_**, hiring that...?" Shadow struggled for a word, "toad-faced hag?"**

"**I have no idea," Sirius said, rolling his blue eyes. Sirius and Remus' disdain for the Hag was visible, in their eyes and their tone. **

**A few days later, Snape popped by HQ, while Lily was out, so Shadow grabbed the man and threw him into a chair, her green eyes (exactly like her mother's) glaring. "What are your intentions with my mother?" **

**Snape almost laughed- here he was, being interrogated by his student about his intentions with her mother- but he came to his senses when he saw Shadow's glare. "I love her, and won't hurt her intentionally," he replied. Apparently, this satisfied Shadow and she backed off, but was still scowling at the man. **

**The rest of the summer passed peacefully, apart from Ron Weasley's insistence that she had bewitched Ginny and Shadow's complete dismay that she couldn't send letters or even get out of the house to talk to Draco.**

**It was on the train something awful happened. Hermione and Draco had come back from their perfecting duties, and reported that Hannah and Ernie from Hufflepuff had become prefects, with Terry and Su Li from Ravenclaw, and Pansy Parkinson for Slytherin with Draco and Ron Weasley with Hermione for Gryffindor. But that wasn't the bad thing. The bad thing was that Weasley decided to pay a little visit, and mouthed off about Draco's parents, and Shadow's mother. **

**Shadow lashed out with a quick kick to the jaw that knocked him back, and a blow to the gut. "If you ever call my mother **_**that **_**again, I swear they won't find enough of you to bury." Weasley beat a hasty retreat from the mean looking girls in the compartment- Shadow with her green eyes with the fire of hatred blazing within, Ginny with her wand pointing straight between his eyes, Luna with her wand pointing at his groin and Hermione merely twirling hers between her fingers. Draco and Colin simply looked on with evil smirks: none of them liked the bragging, idiotic Gryffindor.**

**The train ride was fun, to have hours to chat and sleep and catch up with the others was brilliant. When they got to Hogwarts, however, that changed. From Sirius and Remus' talk about Umbridge, Shadow was expecting a tall, thin, shapeless lady with beady eyes and grey hair that wore only black. Instead, she was presented with what she thought, at first, was a very pink toad with a fly on its head. It was actually Umbridge, a short, fat lady that wore a hideous shade of pink in everything, it seemed. She had a sugary sweet voice, not the croak that one would expect, as she interrupted McGonagall to say this, "****Thank you, ****headmistress, ****for those kind words of welcome. The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of a vital importance. Although each headmaster or headmistress has brought something new to this... historic school, progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be prohibited!****"**

**Shadow, like her friends, had searched through the waffle and found Umbridge was merely saying, "The Ministry has decided to**** interfere and change Hogwarts, just because they fear we're uprising against them." **

**She would immediately mail her mother, father and Sirius informing them of this...slightly disturbing development.**

_**So, the first chapter's done! I'm sorry it took so long, it took me a while to really get motivated. Please give me your opinions on what you think is coming next: it really is going to be a HUGE surprise, I think. funky xxxx**_


	2. In which there is a Potions Accident

_I am running with my school timetable: one hour for each lesson, five lessons a day, e.g.: class-class-break-class-break-class-class. Plus, I'm so sorry, but while I was writing this I was listening to someone read the most rubbish HP fan-fiction that I have ever had the displeasure to hear. It's called My Immortal and it is awful. Snape is Snap and that's not the worst mistake, and my IQ dropped 10 points every paragraph. _

The first lesson Shadow had on Monday was Defence against the Dark Arts, with Umbridge. The fourth year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws filed into the classroom, Luna and Shadow taking their seats at the back. Umbridge flounced down the stairs that lead to her office. "Good Morning, children." She said. After she had received an answer that was satisfactory to her, and made sure everyone had their books, she waved her (unusually short) wand and on the board some chalk wrote by itself:

_You are revising for your OWLs next year._

_Read Chapter one of your books in silence. Copy down the answers to the questions on the sheet to your left. Questions will be answered after class. _

Shadow frowned. Wouldn't they be practicing any actual magic? Frowning, she began to copy.

The second class that Shadow had was Charms. Charms class was pretty easy for Shadow: she had inherited her mother Lily's talent, and her father's may have had something to do with it.

Then it was Herbology, which Shadow was okay at: she didn't kill anything, but she wasn't Professor Sprout- she wasn't brilliant at it.

During the short break, she sat down with her friends to compare classes.

"Honestly, Umbridge is a foul woman. Gave Longbottom and Weasley detentions for, and I quote, 'breathing loudly'," Draco sneered, "but she's kissing my ass because father is a politician, and doesn't like Longbottom."

"She hates us Gryffindors," Hermione complained.

"I think that she hates everyone," Luna said.

Then it was Runes, then lunch, then Potions. It was in Potions that something really interesting happened.

Shadow was making an Irreversible Transfiguration Potion when someone threw something into her potion, and it turned from the cornflower blue that it was meant to be to a bubbling green sludge, and it overflowed onto her. She fell to the floor, screeching in pain. Luna ran to her, and Snape, not wanted to show his worry, dismissed the class and took Shadow up to the hospital wing, scowling.

Wakefulness was slow in returning for Shadow. Her sleep had been deep and untouched by pain-the simple blackness was comforting. She opened her eyes and blinked at the light, and moaned, "Did you get the number of the bus that ran me over?"

"No bus," said Lily, handing her a purple potion and waiting until Shadow had drunk it until continuing. "Someone threw something into your potion. Did you see who it was?"

"No," she replied, the pounding in her head receding. "But I think it was a hair of some sort."

"How do you feel?" Draco asked, making her jump. She hadn't noticed him.

"Me? Fine," she replied. "My tailbone feels kind of funny, though." Lily and Draco looked at one another. "Where's Remus?" Shadow asked, trying to break the sudden silence.

"He wanted to come, but Minerva has him trying to deal with Fenrir Greyback."

"Wait, _what_? She's sent him to deal with the werewolf that turned him?" She asked angrily. "Surely she can't do that!"

"She wants to," Lily sighed. "But Remus understands he may not come back. He wrote to me when he left, and this was enclosed."

It was a letter with her name on it.

_Dear Shadow, _it read,

_I am writing this letter to you because I know that I might not come back from the Pack. I told Minerva it was a dangerous mission, but she didn't listen so I've decided to take it and if I'm killed, so be it._

_I love you, cubette. I don't whether you love me, and if you don't, its fine, but I honestly love you. From the moment I saw you, smelt your scent, I knew you were my child. Werewolves know their cubs as soon as they see them. I was so angry, devastated, when you were petrified and so joyful when you awoke. No matter what anyone says, sometimes petrified children don't wake up. I was so proud when you picked the wise choice instead of the easy in the trial with James: you were so brave. _

_I'll admit, I was slightly disappointed when you were sorted into Hufflepuff, but Nymphadora Tonks was a Hufflepuff too, and she's lovely. I know why you were sorted there now, I think: you were too much of everything to go anywhere else. The other houses would have shunned you: Hufflepuffs are accepting. _

_I'm going to meet with Fenrir Greyback, the man who changed me, to beg to rejoin his pack. It's dangerous, even more so when I betrayed them the first time, but honestly I had to. For you, for Nymphadora (who yes, I am now dating) and for everyone else, but that's not what I need to say._

_You will know by now that you may or may not become a werewolf: I have researched it and you will not, you will simply be unable to sleep or hyperactive on the full moon night, unless you receive a scratch or bite from a werewolf: in that case, you will turn completely. I pray you will not be scarred in the same way as I. _

_I want you to have my photo album, if I am killed. It's got pictures of Nigel Black and your mother in it, the Marauders and some of Nymphadora- very recent ones. _

_I will love and watch over you always,_

_Your father, Remus._

She was crying by the end of the letter, but neither woman nor boy pressed to hear what Remus had said.

"There's another issue," Lily said, looking rather nervous.

"Quite a big one," Draco said, also looking nervous. "Just...look in the mirror." She stared in horror at her reflection.

"The hair thrown in your caldron was cat hair, and combined with the potions effects...this happened."

"They're permanent?"

"Yes," he replied. She continued to stare in the mirror at herself.

She now had pupils like a cat's, black cat's ears poking out from under her hair and a long black tail. Her canines had sharpened slightly also. She whimpered softly before blacking out.


	3. In Which there is a Detention

_So, did you like my little surprise? If you didn't, it's my story, so tough. And I just wanted to make it interesting. Love, funky xxx_

Getting used to her new...limbs...was slightly strange. She found she liked them, though. It was easier to show her emotions, and her eyesight, hearing and scent of smell had improved. The one thing she hadn't counted on, however, was the school's reaction.

Some people were sneering and belittling her, saying she was a freak and didn't deserve to live, others simply stayed away and the rest supported her. She had nasty pranks played on her: she was showered in _used_ cat litter, had cat pepper thrown at her and had her tail pulled.

But Draco, Ginny, Hermione, Luna and Colin had all stuck beside her, cheering her up when she was down, and helping her discover some things about herself.

She found out that when someone petted her ears she could purr, and sometimes simply purred when someone got close to her. When she was close to someone she trusted and was in a lazy atmosphere, she would rub her head underneath their chins, purring and trying to get them to scratch her ears. Her diet had hardly changed: she ate meat (mostly fish), and vegetables.

The months flew by to October, where Hermione rushed up to them in the library and in a whisper relayed some important information: Longbottom was hosting a DADA class. The secret class' first meeting would be at the Hog's head in Hogsmeade, on the 9th: that weekend.

Sat in the dirty Hog's Head, Shadow wondered if it was really the best idea to have a secret meeting in the silent Hog's Head pub. "I don't think this is a good idea," she whispered to Hermione. "I mean, it's silent so there's more chance of us being overheard, and Longbottom really doesn't like me."

"Do you want to do well this year?" Hermione hissed.

"Of course! But we could look things up in books and the like!" She hissed back. "Longbottom _and_ Weasley hate me! Weasley tried to kill my owl and Longbottom tried to kill my cat!" Hermione's eyes hardened.

"We're out of here," Ginny said. "Screw family support, I'm out of here." Shadow smiled. Ginny had always had a soft spot for Athena.

Shadow glared at Umbridge. "Professor, it was a potions accident, it has nothing to do with my heritage," she smiled in the most sickly-sweet voice she could muster. "Can you say the same?" Umbridge gave her detentions for a month for that one.

Shadow whimpered under her breath at the horrible feel of her hand being carved into. How would she bear this for a month? She left quickly as soon as she was dismissed and wrote a letter to her mother:

_Dear Mum,_

_I have just got back from detention with Professor Umbridge. She made me write with a 'special quill' that made my hand bleed! I had to write 'I must not be rude to my superiors' for hours, and I think I'm gonna be scarred from it! And then she doesn't give me a note so I get more detentions! I think it might be time to write to Jenny._

_Love, Shadow._

Lily stared at her daughter's letter. Umbridge was using a blood quill on her daughter? It was _definitely _time to talk to Jennifer Rowle.

The next day, a newspaper article came out.

_**HAS THE MINISTRY GONE TOO FAR?**_

_**The ministry has gone to Hogwarts-but have they gone too far in punishing students?**_

_Delores Umbridge, 54, has worked for the Ministry for many years as the Senior Undersecretary to Minister Fudge for many years. But this year, in a shock move, she was moved to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But some parents wonder, has Madame Umbridge gone too far in punishing children?_

"_Yes," says one mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, along with everyone else interviewed. "My daughter has written to me, telling me that Madame Umbridge has been using a blood quill in detentions, and keeping them in detentions until way after curfew, and then letting them get detentions from professors for not giving them a note." This reporter has done some questioning of the students, trying to find out about the lessons, to see if they are in keeping with the curriculum, and how Madame Umbridge treats the students._

"_She doesn't teach us anything," one NEWT student complained. "There's no practicing, nothing. She insists that theory will get us through our NEWTs. But I have good potions scores, good scores on everything I need to become an Arour (read more about the Qualifications needed on page 11) apart from Defence, possibly the most important course. I don't want to fail this." In interviews with children of all houses of all years, this reporter has come to the conclusion that Madame Umbridge teaches out of a book, with no practical work involved, insisting it will get children through their exams. _

_Next, I asked some children about how they were treated._

"_I saw Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom get detentions for 'breathing too loudly'," confesses one Slytherin student. "I don't really like them, but they don't deserve that." _

"_Some people do deserve the detentions," said one Ravenclaw. "Someone cheeked the Professor and got a month's detention for it."_

"_She's biased," added another. "Gives the children of politicians and more important people in the Ministry good marks, but she's completely unfair to some people with magical creature blood." _

_When asked about Madame Umbridge's unusually cruel punishments, Minister Fudge had this to say: "She is doing great work at Hogwarts. She is needed there to dispel rumours of You-Know-Who's return. If she has to resort to drastic actions to do so, she must."_

_The most interesting thing about this is that this reporter did not mention Lord Voldemort, a.k.a. You-Know-Who or He-who-Must-Not-Be-Named and Tom Riddle (for more on his background, go to page 13). This reporter wonders if there is something else going on in the Ministry, and are they ready to do something if He has truly returned?_

_By J. Rowle._

Shadow was very happy with the result of this, but Jenny has sure worked...fast...

Oh! She must have got Ginny, Luna and Draco to spread the word about the interviewing, to send what they thought of Umbridge to her. She smiled. Maybe something would be done about Umbridge now? She would only wait and see.


	4. In Which The friends get some bad news

_I'm guessing with ages of the adults, ok? Don't bug me about it, please? Love, funky xxx_

The next morning, Umbridge was flooded with Howlers-some filled with dangerous substances. Molly Weasley's voice screamed over the rest.

"_How dare you make my son write with a blood quill? I __**will **__be doing something about this!_" It continued along this vein for quite some time, and then taught even the teachers some new, extremely rude, cuss words.

Classes with Umbridge were worse than ever: soon, the whole school began skipping class, even Hermione. They would simply laze under a tree for the hour.

This was the way it continued until Christmas: something truly terrible happened to Ginny.

The first Shadow had heard of it was a letter from her mother:

_Dear Shadow,_

_I'm very sorry to say the Mr. Weasley was taken to Saint Mungo's a few days ago during a mission for the Order, and sadly passed away this morning. Ginny is here, grieving with Ron Weasley and the twins. Bill and Charlie have come over to England to mourn with them. You'll be coming home for Christmas again, is that okay? Could you ask Hermione and Luna if they would come here for Christmas for Ginny? That would be brilliant._

_All my love, Lily._

She sped off to pass the news to Luna, Hermione, Colin and Draco.

"Can we talk?" She asked them softly. "Alone?"

"Sure," they said chirpily.

"Have you seen Ginny?" asked Hermione.

"She's not here," Shadow sighed softly. "Her dad died last night."

"Oh, Merlin," said Draco, paling. "Poor Ginny."

"Yeah. Luna, Hermione, mum asked if you'd come to where we were during the summer to talk to her at Christmas?"

"Of course," they chimed.

"I want to be there," Draco said.

"I know, but Moody doesn't trust you. I'm sorry," she said.

"You know what? I'm tired of people judging me because of my father! I'm not him! I never will be! I'm in love with a half-blood! I'm best friends with blood-traitors and a muggle-born! You know what? Piss off to your bloody place and I'll find some pureblood friends, Mud-bloods." He stormed away. Shadow stared at him, and then shouted after him, "You know what? It's over! I hate you, you stupid..." She then called him something so foul that even Snape blushed. "And don't you _dare_ coming back, you...Aggh! You're so frustrating!" She screamed at him. She threw a hex at him, and it hit his back. "Bitch!" He yelled at her as his whole body turned pink and had 'I love Gryffindors' written all over him. "Detention, Ms. Evans," sneered Snape, while Draco threw a hex back. Her front teeth began growing at an alarming rate. "Detention, Mr. Malfoy," said McGonagall. Shadow hurried to the hospital wing, Hermione, Luna and Colin following, Draco simply glared and began trying to reverse her hex.

"How could he say that?" asked Shadow, eyes glittering with tears. "How could he?"

"He's just upset," soothed Hermione.

"I'll talk to him," Luna said softly, turning and leaving.

Luna caught up with Draco as he stormed to the Library. "Why did you say that?"

"People think I'm a Death Eater because my father is," he said softly. "I'm not a Death Eater, Luna."

"I know," she smiled. "I know."

"Does Shadow really hate me?"

"No," she replied. "She's just upset. Her father may be a pureblood, but he's also a werewolf, and her mother's a muggle-born. Colin and Hermione are a bit upset, though."

"What can I say?"  
"That you're sorry," she replied seriously. "That you aren't a Death Eater supporter, you don't believe that, and that you didn't mean it."

When they got back to the Hospital Wing, Shadow was sat up with Colin and Hermione asking, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"For Merlin's sake I'm..." she saw Draco and trailed off with a weak "fine."

"I'm so sorry," he spoke to Hermione and Colin first. "I am so, so sorry."

"It's okay," they replied. "We know you didn't mean it." He nodded, slightly choked up: they were such good friends, they knew him so well... Luna beckoned to Hermione and Colin while Draco walked up to Shadow. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I don't want you to leave me alone. I want to stay with you."

"I don't hate you, you know," she replied. "I love you."

"Love you too," he smiled, and kissed her.

When Shadow, Hermione and Luna went to Grimmould Place, Ginny was holed up in her room, crying. Shadow whispered, "Hey, Ginny." Ginny smiled up at them through her tears. Shadow walked over and hugged the girl. "I'm sorry."

"I'd say it's ok, but it's not..." The other two girls joined in on the hug.

"How is everyone dealing with it?"

"Mum's cooking and cleaning all the time. She doesn't laugh anymore. The twins have stopped pranking everyone in sight, while Ron's just eating and eating..."

"How is that unusual?"

Ginny giggled. "It's not, is it? We sent an owl to Percy, he hasn't replied, while Bill and Charlie are just being strong."

"Colin and Draco send their best wishes," Hermione said softly.

Christmas didn't really feel like Christmas that year. Snape was sulking over teaching the 'Longbottom brat' Ollocumency, while Lily was upset about Remus, who still hadn't returned from his mission, and the Weasley family were all upset about Arthur's death. The daily Prophet didn't help:

_**MINISTRY WORKER KILLED!**_

_**In a shocking turn of events, Arthur Weasley has been killed in the Ministry. **_

_Arthur Weasley, 45, father of seven, was found dead in the Ministry of Magic. He had been injured by a snake of some kind a week or so ago (the timeline is unsure), and was taken to Saint Mungo's, but sadly passed away a few days ago. Mr. Weasley, who worked in the Ministry and was head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office, but he was found in the Department of Mysteries. Head Unspeakable Croaker had this to say, "Mr. Weasley was not a member of our team, and he had no business being down in the department: more specifically, the Hall of Prophecy. We will be investigating this very thoroughly." But that rises even more questions: why was Mr. Weasley, an upper-level worker, down in the bowels of the Ministry anyway? And was the snake sent there on someone's orders? This reporter wants to know, and wants the Weasley family to know she is thinking of them in these dark times._

_Written by J. Rowle._


	5. In Which Ginny breaks down

_This is a VERY short chapter, but it's something I had to write, and I couldn't continue straight on after writing it...It felt wrong. funky xxxx_

Ginny stared down at the letter that her mother had pressed into her hand, simply saying, "From your father."

_Dearest Gin-bug,_

_I want you to know that whatever happens to me, I love you. You're my only daughter, and I could not be more proud. _

_Oh, Ginny, how I want to be around to see you blossom into the beautiful, kind, caring young woman I know you'll be someday. Instead, I fear I will have only seen you as a child and teenager. I want to be the one to welcome your first boyfriend to the family, be the one to threaten him when your backs turned. I want to walk you down the aisle. I want to be a Grandpa someday, but I now doubt this._

_Baby, it's nobody's fault. I want you to talk to Shadow Evans: her father's alive. The Order has a tracking charm on him; it tells us whether he's alive. _

_Anyway, I want to say I'm sorry, to apologise for being so _stupid_ as to sleep on the job. I am so sorry for causing you pain, Gin-bug. _

_I love you, forever and always, _

_Dad._


	6. AN: Please read

_Hi, _

_I am writing this note to tell you that I am going to severely screw up cannon here, further than I already have! I don't want to reveal the plot, but some things happen earlier than they should. Don't worry though, I'm speeding it up a little so I can make it more interesting...you'll see why when I post my next chapter. It is gonna be the last chapter of this story, so I hope you like it!_

_Thanks for listening, funky xxxx_


	7. In Which there is a Battle

_Sorry it took so long- my computer messed me around a bit. Please forgive me, funky xxx_

The funeral for Arthur Weasley was a particularly morbid one, taking place on a snowy January evening. Ginny had read a poem for her father:

_Do not stand at my grave and weep,  
I am not there, I do not sleep,  
I am a thousand winds that blow  
I am the Diamond glints on snow  
I am the sunlight on ripened grain  
I am the gentle Autumn rain_

_When you awaken in the morning's hush  
I am the swift uplifting rush  
Of quite birds in circled flight  
I am the soft stars that shine at night  
Do not stand at my grave and cry  
I am not there, I did not die._

All the Weasleys had been there, even the ones that hadn't liked Arthur, like Great-Aunt Muriel, turned up. Percy was there, and he and Ronald had gotten into a fight, calmed only by Molly's cries of, "Your father wouldn't want this!" Shadow had worn a black trouser suit, while Ginny had gone for the traditional Prewett Funeral Robes. Hermione wore her black dress robes, as did Colin. Sirius and the rest of the Order were there, too, mourning the loss of their fellow member. Draco was there, too, stood next to Shadow with an arm around her. All of their heads were bowed.

After Mr. Weasley had been buried, they left for Hogwarts. The evening was beautiful: the snow was perfect, having new snow just fallen. The lake had a thin sheet of ice upon its surface, the only hole was in the middle of the lake where the Giant Squid's tentacles poked through, as though it was trying to stop children from falling through the ice if they fell into the lake, but the beauty was lost to Ginny, who thought only of her father. "I'm sorry about your father," Cain of Hufflepuff (who Ginny had quite a crush on) said softly.

"I'll be okay," she replied. "Eventually, anyway."

Months passed, and Ginny began to smile again. It was the end of the school year soon: Hermione and Draco stressing about OWLs, even though everyone was confident they'd passed, the talk about the DADA curse coming in a few months early, after Umbridge was taken to Askaban and Professor Black brought back...

The night was dark: the whole of Hogwarts was soundly asleep, because it was so late that even the teachers and prefects were sleeping, not doing any rounds- or at least most of Hogwarts was sleeping. A whispered, "Hush!" broke the silence. A shadow, followed by several more, crept down the stairs. An alarm woke the Headmistress: someone intending to harm the students was in the castle. She tapped a small, blue orb with her wand and it turned red, heating up so much it burnt through her desk. She, along with everyone else, was in grave danger. Sending a message to the other teachers, she donned her robes, tied up her hair and made an announcement to the dorms.

Shadow awoke to the sound of the Headmistress' voice: "_The castle is going into Lockdown. Please stay where you are. Do not panic."_

Of course, the moment she said that, _everyone _panicked. Students began rushing to the doors: she could hear them outside of her dorm. She jumped up, eyes wide with fright-_what if Draco, Ginny, Luna, Hermione and Colin are doing the same thing? _Hurrying towards the common room door, the sheer amount of Hufflepuffs crowding it forced it open, against the Magical Block's, and the Headmistress', wishes. She bolted towards the Slytherin Common Room first: it was closest. Quickly spotting Draco's signature blond hair, she dragged him from the crowd and to Ravenclaw. She repeated the process with Luna, and then set off to Gryffindor. Ginny's red hair and Hermione's busy hair were both easy to spot, and luckily Colin had stayed with them. All of a sudden, screams echoed up the hallway. "_Crucio,_" screeched a woman's voice- Bellatrix LeStrange's! Shadow had heard about her getting out of Askaban, but it had not been front page news-in fact, in such small font it was hardly seen. "Scream for me!" Cooed the woman's voice. Shadow and her friends got swept up in the tide of people who were running towards the voice, why she had no idea.

The Great Hall was in chaos: students battling against trained Death Eaters, adults, and soon Shadow got caught up in a duel- fierce red and green curses flying-one missed her, hit someone behind her-and she summoned a mirror in front of her and sent the sickly green killing curse back at the Death Eater-she thought he'd dodge, but he didn't. There was no time to feel shocked as she got caught up in another duel: this one against someone carrying knives and a wand. They sent _Expelliarmus_ at one another at the same time, and suddenly she was dealing with a heavily scarred man, with knives. She kicked him in the groin, and he was down, so she followed it up with a boot to the head. He was out cold. She scrambled for her wand and found it: picking it up, she headed towards Draco and Hermione who were dueling a fat, short woman. They looked like they needed help, so she pressed forward, only to see a killing curse fly past Colin and strike Padma Patil who fell with a scream- and then McGonagall's furious voice rose over the din: _"You will not hurt my students any further!_" Everything happened in slow motion: the sneer on Bellatrix's face-McGonagall, with defiant eyes burning-those crazy eyes gleaming as smiling lips formed those fatal words- and, in the blink of an eye, Minerva McGonagall's life ended.

"It is over!" Screamed the dark-haired woman. "We've won!" And then Shadow saw something so awful that she didn't want to think: Cain was following them, head held high as he shot the dark mark into the dark night sky as around them, fires burned on the grounds of Hogwarts and the screams of those whom had lost loved ones echoed in the air around them.


	8. funky's words of slight wisdom

_Okay, now you know what I had planned for this year. McGonagall surprised me with her death a bit, but hey, if she wanted to go... WHO THREW THAT? NO, REALLY, WHO THREW IT? _

_So, my reasons for skipping this battle forward are this: In cannon, there is a whole BOOK about Harry being nosy. Actually, there's a whole SEVEN books about Harry being nosy. So I thought, well, McGonagall's not gonna show Longbottom Tom Riddle's memories, right? So, I killed Arthur. Sorry about that, Mr. Weasley! But I didn't want Sirius to die, so I killed him off instead. Like I said, McGonagall's death surprised me, so...STOP THROWING THE GODDAMN ROTTEN TOMATOES! _

Anyway_, thanks to Christina-Tears for being my ONLY reviewer on this whole story. Your reviews made me feel better when I thought nobody was reading it. Thank you so much! _

_Love and thanks,_

_funky xxx_

_OW! I TOLD YOU TO STOP THROWING THOSE TOMATOES! _


End file.
